Evaluation of the Family for Every Child Project in the Region of Shumen, Bulgaria
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EVALUATION OF THE FAMILY FOR EVERY CHILD PROJECT IN THE REGION OF SHUMEN, BULGARIA FINAL REPORT 25th January 2017 Elayn M. Sammon, E M Sammon Consulting Ltd., Joanna Rogers, CEE/CIS Consultancy Group, Luba Devetakova, Independent Consultant. This evaluation has been commissioned by the UNICEF Bulgaria Country Office, 87 Kniaz Alexander Dondukov Blvd., Sofia 1054. The UNICEF contact point for this evaluation is Milena Harizanova [email protected] Evaluation Team Elayn Sammon holds an MSc. in Disability Studies and an MSc. in Equality and Social Inclusion. In her early career, she was involved in the transition from institutional to community based care for children and adults with disabilities in the UK and Ireland and consequently in CEE/CIS region. She now has more than 30 years of international experience in social policy in a range of transition economies of Sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia and Central and Eastern Europe in the public and NGO sectors, with UNICEF and on behalf of donor agencies such as the EU, DFID, and USAID. Elayn has a significant track record of strategic policy development, monitoring and evaluation and programme design in the child protection and wider basic social services sector. Joanna Rogers holds an MSc in Social Work from Ersta Skondal University College in Stockholm and has been working on child welfare reform internationally and especially in the CEE/CIS region for over 25 years. She has extensive experience of strategic management of reform programmes and working with a range of NGO, INGO, government and donor stakeholders. Joanna has conducted research and evaluations for UNICEF with a focus on child protection and family support, systems reform, social work development, social assistance and social services, disability policy and programmes. She is a Senior Consultant for P4EC CEE/CIS consultancy group and an Associate with Oxford Policy Management. Luba Devetakova holds a Master’s degree in Sociology and Social Anthropology from the Central European University of Budapest, Hungary, and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. She is a PhD student in Political Sciences at the New Bulgarian University and a researcher with more than 10 years’ experience in social, marketing and political studies. Luba is a specialist in the application of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including desk research, in-depth interviews, focus groups and the application of specialised research methods. Acknowledgements Our thanks go to the considerable number of people who contributed to and supported this evaluation. We are particularly grateful to UNICEF and its partners in Shumen region and Sofia for setting up and supporting the field visits, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. We also extend thanks to all who participated in the interviews and focus group discussions and to the communities we visited for their time and patience in answering our questions and contributing so generously their views and experience of the project. We further thank the participants of the two workshops held in January 2017 where the evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations were discussed for their useful contributions to finalising this report. List of Abbreviations For consistency and ease of comparison we have adopted the standard abbreviations applied by the National Network for Children, Bulgaria, in their Report Card 2016 (NMD 2016). Where an appropriate abbreviation is not found in this reference tool we have first reverted to the UNICEF report, Deinstitutionalisation of Children in Bulgaria – How Far and Where To? (Rogers 2014). ASA Agency for Social Assistance CM&CH Centre for Maternal and Child Health (health visitor service) CPD Child Protection Department EU European Union FCC Family Counselling Centre FGD Focus Group Discussion FTPC Family-type Placement Centre HMSCC Home for Medical and Social Care for Children (Infant Home) KII Key Informant Interview MES Ministry of Education and Sciences MLSP Ministry of Labour and Social Policy MoF Ministry of Finance NGO Non-governmental organisation RCA Reality Check Approach RDSA Regional Directorate for Social Assistance SACP State Agency for Child Protection SAPI Social Activities and Practices Institute ToR Terms of Reference UNCRC United Nations convention on the Rights of the Child UNCRPD United Nations Convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................. 1 Evaluation Background and Methods .................................................................. 1 Key Findings .......................................................................................................... 2 Discussion and Conclusions ................................................................................ 6 Recommendations ................................................................................................ 9 2. Purpose and Context of the Evaluation............................................................ 10 3. Evaluation Design & Methodology ................................................................... 14 Scope ................................................................................................................... 14 Design .................................................................................................................. 14 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 15 Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................ 18 4. Description of the Project Family for Every Child ........................................... 21 5. Presentation of the Findings ............................................................................. 24 5.1 Key informant Opinions of the Family for Every Child Project .................. 24 5.2 Closure of the Shumen HMSCC ................................................................... 26 Infant Home Closure Outcomes ........................................................................ 27 Entries to the Infant Home During the Project Period ........................................ 28 Outcomes for Children from the Shumen Infant Home at September 2016 ....... 28 Shumen HMSCC Day Care Service for Children with Disabilities ..................... 32 Communications (public awareness and social norms) related to closure of the Shumen HMSCC .............................................................................................. 33 Responsibility for Monitoring Child Placements after Closure ........................... 35 The Role of Community Based Family Counselling Centres in relation to the closure of the Shumen HMSCC ........................................................................ 35 5.3 Development of Foster Care ......................................................................... 36 Foster Care Service Data.................................................................................. 37 Maternity Ward Crisis Intervention – Prevention of Relinquishment Service Data ....... 40 5.4 Family Counselling Centres (FCC) ............................................................... 44 Review of 39 Family Counselling Centre Cases ................................................ 50 5.5 Centre for Maternal and Child Health (CM&CH) .......................................... 59 5.6 Child Centre for Advocacy and Support – Protection Zone ....................... 61 5.7 Other Social Services for Children and Families in the Shumen Region .. 62 5.8 Impressions of Government Partners .......................................................... 64 5.9 Coordination – National, Local and Project ................................................. 69 5.10 UNICEF’s Role in Project Implementation and Stakeholder Perceptions 71 5.11 Family for Every Child project service data ............................................... 73 5.12 Shumen Child Protection and Family Support Systems Data .................. 76 6. Presentation of Findings - Discussion and Analysis ............................. 90 6.1 Relevance - Level 1 UNICEF Performance ................................................... 90 Alignment to National Commitments and Government Priorities ....................... 90 Situation Analysis and Choice of Interventions .................................................. 91 Capacity Building .............................................................................................. 96 Learning and Feedback Contributing to Reform ................................................ 97 Appropriateness of Project Goal and Objectives ............................................... 98 6.2 Relevance - Level 2 Service Delivery for Children and Families .............. 100 Alignment to Local Government Commitments and Priorities .......................... 100 6.3 Effectiveness – Level 1 UNICEF Performance ........................................... 101 Intended and Unintended Results ................................................................... 101 Attribution ....................................................................................................... 106 Improvements in the Well-being of Children .................................................... 107 Contribution to National Reforms ...................................................................